Barclays Chairman Is Lie-borgate's First Victim

Three weeks ago we mocked, rightfully so, the utter joke that is Liebor, which had been unchanged for just over 3 months. Nobody cared, certainly not the British Banker Association. This was not the first time: our first allegations of Liebor fraud and manipulation started over three years ago. There were others too. Nobody certainly cared back then. Now, in the aftermath of the Barclays lawsuit, and "those" e-mails, everyone suddenly cares. And a few days after the first public exposure of Lie-borgate, the first victim has been claimed: as numerous sources report, Barclays' Chairman Marcus Agius wil step down immediately. From the WSJ: "Political and investor pressure has mounted on the management of U.K.-based Barclays since the settlement was announced Wednesday. The announcement of Mr. Agius's departure could come as soon as Monday, said one of the people. Mr. Agius, 65 years old, a British-Maltese banker who formerly worked at Lazard Ltd., has led the bank since 2007, steering Barclays through the 2008 financial crisis and avoiding the direct state bailouts that were needed by many of its global peers." While the sacrifice of a scapegoat is expected, what we don't get is why the Chairman: after all by the time Agius became Chair of the British bank, the bulk of the Libor fixing alleged in the FSA lawsuit had already happened. And of course, with Bob Diamond having succeeded John Varley as CEO in 2010, one can easily claim that in this first (of many) confirmed Liebor transgression there really is nobody at fault who can be held accountable. Of course, Barclays is merely the first of many. We fully expect Lieborgate to spread not only to other British BBA member banks, but soon to jump across the Atlantic, where CEOs who have been with their banks for the duration of the entire Libor-fixing term will soon find themselves under the same microscope.

Over the weekend, the U.K. government ordered an independent review of how Libor is set that is expected to be completed by the end of the summer.

"It's very important [the review] takes all of the actions necessary, holding bankers accountable... making sure there's proper transparency, making sure the criminal law can go wherever it needs to uncover wrongdoing," Prime Minister David Cameron told BBC television Saturday.

Business Secretary Vince Cable said there should also be a criminal investigation into the Libor-fixing scandal.

"[The public] just can't understand why people are thrown into jail for petty theft and these guys just walk away having perpetrated what looks like conspiracy," Mr. Cable said told Sky television Sunday.

"I've been told the [Serious Fraud Office] is having a fresh look at the evidence," Mr. Cable said.

Bank of England Gov. Mervyn King on Friday called for the current system for calculating Libor to be scrapped. Libor rates are calculated for different currencies each day under the auspices of the British Bankers' Association using quotes submitted by banks on a panel, based on the banks' estimated borrowing costs.

The biggest irony in all of this what nobody talks about: namely that Liebor has been completely irrelevant since 2009, when virtually all unsecured liquidity funding would come from central banks. In a world where Interbank lending has long been dead, Libor is merely the latest anachronism of free capital markets now that everything has been replaced by central planning.

Finally, if Barclays stock can tumble 20% in 3 days for the simple crime of interest rate rigging, we can only thank our lucky stars that the Federal Reserve has still not succumbed to the temptation to IPO itself.

One day, it will be a pleasure to see the facade ripped off the entire financial industry to see what is going on behind the scenes.

Like turning over a rock to see a mass of writhing, filthy maggots. Maybe it won't be until Judgment Day, but I'm sure my mind isn't able to comprehend the utterly filthy, stinking vile things that have gone on in the name of accumulation of wealth to a few great houses.

How many people have been destroyed in the process? How many lives ruined? There will be hell to pay for these guys - even though they get a slap on the wrist now, they will suffer in the longer term.

That the LIBOR is a complete joke has been obvious for months, as Tyler has pointed out, but he really didn't need to since you only have to look at the rates for the last months to see it. Yet I am perplexed by a few questions that I can't grok the answer to:

Why didn't they continue faking the rates? During last fall's liquidity freeze you could have calibrated a ruler with week after week of regular climb in the rate. It was suspicious in it's regularity but it provided plausable deniability.

If the system is as bought off as I suspect why did the regulators take any action? They ignore silver shorts, HFT manipulations, MF Global's thefts and a host of other sins so what made them think they should even glance at the LIBOR? And Why Barclays?

The regulators and the MSM wouldn't touch this unless someone was pushing them to, Who and Why?

There are unseen forces at work here that are important to understand.

asking the right questions is more important than getting the right answers to the wrong questions. wish I could begin to answer them for you.

first, things are as bought and paid for as you suspect. though when fraud and criminality run rampant cannibalizing sets in sooner r later, this may be an event of internal struggle Bennett factions of the Anglo-American power structure

Libor became irrelevant when the banks completely stopped trusting each other, even for an overnight loan. (I didn't realize it was as long ago as 2009.) Anyway, what matters now is that unimaginable trillions in derivative bets are positioned just downstream from Libor, and still dependant on it to calculate their value. Shaving or adding just one or two pips to the rate would cause huge shifts in those derivative positions.

In theory, of course, the senior bankers setting Libor should not be in contact with the boys at the trading desks, but the email record makes it pretty clear what happened. Friends were helped, favors were done, what else is new? I think the "unseen forces" you're looking for, Fred, are to be found in the corruptable nature of human beings when they get near big money.

That will be up to the People. The system is bought and paid for, and laws mean nothing to the owners. If one wants justice, one must go outside of the State and mercilessly slaughter the criminals his or her self.

"[The public] just can't understand why people are thrown into jail for petty theft and these guys just walk away having perpetrated what looks like conspiracy," Mr. Cable said told Sky television Sunday.

the police have been sidelined,the army will be waiting for orders in barracks.

the olympics security will be run by a private israeli firm.

fukishima had israeli security,911 had the dancing israeli security team.

let us not forget 7.7.

Verint Systems is the security firm that is responsible for the CCTV surveillance cameras, in the London Underground rail network, and it is an Israeli company, with approximately 1000 employees.

No CCTV footage of the four Muslims boarding the tube-trains has been released by Verint; who claim that their cameras were not working. Why? Because the four Muslims were not on the tube-trains that blew up.

So, 'ol Agius gets to pack himself off to some warm, beachey clime, carouse at the good bars and restaurants, pay for the grandkid's top private schools, and fill his days in with golf and consulting assignments. Sure, he might have to pay for his own first-class airfare, but not everyone gets the Gulfstream.

Why are we in such a "Bizzaro" world? Everything that is right, is never done. Is the corruption really this deep? Our govrnment runs drugs, perpetuates wars, and causes deaths world wide. If you work hard, and do well, you are taxed to oblivion. If you make all of the wrong choices, you get free food, healthcare and are rewarded for your bad decisions. Our food, air, and water are contaminated by corporations, and the truth is always hidden until a whistleblower leaks a small piece of the puzzle. All of us demand the truth, but yet we can never get a clear answer from anyone. Romney and Obama are the best we can offer from the two parties...really? Gentlemen.....we need the "Reset" now. Do you ever wish you didn't take the red pill? Sometimes I sure do. I sure feel like this clip...

This is a really old story. People think of ways to scam the system first then evaluate later, it's built into our monkey brains. I like the Bible story of Joseph in Egypt. He's suffering in prison after being unjustly accused when Pharoah brings him in to interpret a disturbing dream. God gives Joseph the understanding that the dream is a warning that the country will have seven good years then seven years of devastating drought. Joseph, fresh out of bondage and who is considered one of the "good guys" uses this devine information to devise a plan to tax the peasants 20% for the good years then sell the grain back to them in the next years in exchange for ALL of their land. Everyone was a serf at the end of the fourteen years except the priests. Dude, this is one of the good guys? Nothing the banksters are doing is new, they just want to take every last thing you own.

Talked to someone yesterday about Stockton's bankruptcy. He thought the solution was to get revenue from the their primary industry, meth labs, by legalizing them and exporting to China. Opium Wars writ new. I think he was kidding but the Brits weren't.

This is much bigger than him. He is more like the first of the king's horsemen to fall in the Watergate analogy : Jeb MAgruder. There will be others, if there is a special prosecutor named like then by the House Judiciary Committee. Archibold Cox was his name...

Beware of deceitful people who undermine organizations, damage character, and spread evil rumors and ill feeling. Be honest and sincere with them but do not use their methods. It may seem that these people succeed and there is no way to stop them. It will take courage, perseverance, and renewed dedication to better principles. You also need all the help you can get from able people you can trust. There is no easy way out of this situation. You will get little support and the situation will seem hopeless. The negative forces will weaken, however, influenced by what is right and good. Know that evil carries within itself the means of its own destruction. Remain on the side of truth and right and you cannot be destroyed.

The current difficulties will end in the natural cycle of regeneration. Be patient, and continue to work hard in preparation for the good times to follow.

"...our first allegations of Liebor fraud and manipulation started over three years ago.... Nobody certainly cared back then. Now, in the aftermath of the Barclays lawsuit, and "those" e-mails, everyone suddenly cares."

Well done ZH

in a sea of crap croney journalism you're a breath of fresh mountain air

jim points to the great "rumor" that someone has hired 600 CPA-type BiCheZ recently which explains the "fact" that you can't find one but they might be on vacation or closing out june on the moon

he thinks they are trying to plumb the depraved depths of morgan stanley's derivatives

he is pretty funny as he claims they need to find out basically, whether they are dead or not [Paste} The better question is who ordered the accounting to be done, to determine if a Wall Street firm was dead? And why?

i confess! tyler did it!

the stuff around the lie-bor damages~~they may need slewie to re-join the work force to make up something real...

Go talk to any average Joe and he has no fucking idea the damage these fuckers have caused to all of our collective lives. Until people wake up and realise just what these filthy bastards have done to all of us, because in the end we are all effected by this, every last one of us, how many jobs have been lost? How many are struggling to get by? How many are now homeless?

And these bastards get the scot free treatment?? Fuck that, I dont want jail time neither, I want violence, they deserve nothing but extreme prejudice for what we are going through and what is yet to come.

Fuck your golden hand shake, fuck a slap on the wrist. I hope you never sleep sound again till your time is up.